On a card full of Canadian fighters, Carvalho was the first of the night to score a victory on home soil after a quick and efficient 71-second knockout of featherweight Daniel Pineda.

The preliminary-card bout took place at Saturday’s UFC 149 event at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. It streamed on Facebook prior to additional prelims on FX and the pay-per-view main card.

Carvalho confidently took the center of the cage and displayed improved and crisp striking during his quick win.

The Ontario native struck first with a head kick that staggered Pineda, and he followed with a nice combo as his opponent returned to his feet. Moments later, Carvalho then connected with a clean right hand that dropped Pineda, and he pounced with a couple quick follow-up punches before referee Mario Yamasaki halted the bout.

The knockout, which Pineda clearly dazed for a few minutes, came 71 seconds into the first round.

“I got a little emotional at the end, but listen to this, look at this,” Carvalho said of the sold-out crowd, much of which was in its seats for the untelevised prelims. “I was very nervous about this fight and scared of Daniel. Once things got going in there I knew it was my night.

“I saw my opening, felt the energy, and went in for the kill. I couldn’t be happier. I worked really hard with my training partners for this.”

With his improved striking, Carvalho (14-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) successfully rebounds from a UFC-debut loss to Felipe Arantes and is now 4-1 in his past five fights. Meanwhile, Pineda (17-9 MMA, 2-2 UFC), a former Legacy FC champion who splashed onto the UFC scene with wins over Pat Schilling and Mackens Semerzier, has now dropped two straight.

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